


Negligible

by fxns



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Delancey Brothers - Freeform, Eating Disorders, Gen, Mush my child i am so sorry i have done this to you please forgive me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-22 21:42:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13175781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fxns/pseuds/fxns
Summary: Oscar and Morris Delancey are determined to find a chink in the armor of Mush Meyers..It didn't take long before they succeeded.TW: Eating disorders





	Negligible

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this fanfic! Feel free to comment and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from all of you!
> 
> Chapters will be shorter.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Eating Disorders

It all started the day Morris and Oscar Delancey decided to single out a newsboy. Mush Meyers was their subject of choice, he was bigger and muscular, but had gotten his name for an interesting reason. 

 

Mush was called ‘Mush’ because he was tough on the outside, but mush and soft on the inside. Morris and Oscar knew just what to do to someone like that, always pick on the insecurities. Insecurities are what can take someone try and tear their entire life apart just to fix the flaw. 

 

The brothers racked their brains to think of the perfect manipulation, something that would not only hurt their target, but the other boys. It didn’t take long for them to find it one morning when they looked at the average height boy in a tight shirt. 

 

Mush wasn’t fat, nor was was he very skinny. He had a little hanging over his belt, but nothing considered overweight or unhealthy. Compared to the other boys, he was quite big. Most of the others were scrawny and boney, their ribs poking out unhealthily through their clothes. But, this was perfect for the Delancey’s to pick on. 

 

Mush tended to walk alone to and from work, the solitude bringing him some comfort before he was met with the loud chatter of the boys. Oscar and Morris followed him one day on his way to selling, backing him up into an alleyway, his body trembling at what might happen. 

 

“Oooh what do we have here Oscar? A fat piggy trapped in a corner, waiting to be slaughtered.” Morris teased, poking and pinching Mush’s cheek. A flap of skin was in his fingers, but that was normal. 

 

“He’d be pretty good, look at all the pudgy fat on him. He could keep a thousand oil candles burning with that much extra flubber.” Oscar hit Mush in the stomach, grabbing the fat and twisting it. Mush tried to him them away, but Morris pinned his body to the brick wall. 

 

“Not so fast whale, you gotta listen to us. We’re just trying to do you a service, lose some weight!” Morris cheered, releasing his grip on Mush. 

 

“What’s any of this matter to ya?” Mush demanded from them, but he was met with laughter. The brother’s knew then that they had found a weak spot, a chink in the armor Mush wore everyday. 

 

“We’re just looking out for a newsboy is all! And the general public… because damn… no one should have to look at that.” Oscar turned away acting disgusted, but not before he pinched the fat around Mush’s ribs. Mush swatted his hand away, continuously putting up his tough facade. 

 

The brother’s just howled with laughter, hitting Mush against the wall before letting him go. “Just do everyone a favor and drop a few pounds, or a few dozen.” Morris remarked before walking away, pretending to be utterly disgusted. Oscar followed in suit, acting like Mush was a rotten piece of food. 

 

Mush pulled himself to his feet and sighed heavily, picking up the now soggy papers that had been dropped. He didn’t know how they did it, but the Delancey’s found his one weak point. In his mind, he knew he was healthy, but never felt he really fit in with the other boys. They would always ask him in wonder how he managed to be the weight he was with the newsie salary. 

 

Usually, Mush would just brush it off as nothing. It was boys being boys, sometimes he thought they were jealous. It was nothing to be jealous about though, everyone looked at him funny when he sold papers. He didn’t look starved or sick like some of the others, he looked normal, like a scammer trying to steal money from these young boys selling. People thought he was too big, adding more to this insecurity Mush kept buried deep inside. Even the boys had poked fun at this before. 

 

Mush managed to get a few people to buy his soggy, dirty newspapers. Not many wanted to pay for damaged goods, so he ended up having to sell two for the price of one. Spirits were down that day, especially since the sky grew dark and cloudy, rain beginning to pour down, thunder booming over their heads.

 

Running home, ruined papers over his head to shelter him from the rain, Mush lost his show. Yet another bad omen for the day that was yet to be over. Hiding in an alleyway to shelter from the rain, Oscar and Morris Delancey laughed as loud as they couch to mock the newsboys. They reached out enough to pull him into the alley, leading him to the dead end and pinning him against the brick.

 

“Nice to see ya again, running to fix your little weight situation?” Morris poked fun, neither brother going to give this up into Mush caved and started to shrink in physical size. That’s when they would know they had won.  

 

“No, I’se running to get inside you nitwit.” Mush spat, not willing to show he was vulnerable quite yet. He knew some of his body language may say otherwise, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try. 

 

“Only to get inside? Big mistake. I’d work on those thighs and abs if I were you.. They’re hidden by a disgusting layer of cake you must've eaten all by yourself.” Oscar laughed, poking at Mush’s body to make him uncomfortable. 

It was quite a mental debate for Mush. Shouldn’t only girls feel insecure about their weight and want to look better? Guys shouldn’t care, should they? He couldn’t tell anyone, he would just be made fun of. 

 

“Hey, bulky boy, head in the clouds?” Morris chided, breaking him from his mental trance. Mush rolled his eyes and glared at the boys, trying to fight out of Morris’ arms pinning him to the wall.

 

“Look, ya ain’t gonna get anything out of me. So why don’t you’s just leave me alone and go pick on someone you’s own size.” Mush remarked, mentally cringing at his choice of words. 

 

“Our own size? Boy are you’s far from that one. If you’s ever want to pick on anyone, find a whale. You’s about the same size around.” Oscar teased, puffing his own cheeks and body, his arms in a circle around himself. Mush blinked back tears that threatened to spill. 

 

Not soon after, the rain let up, the thunder stopped exploding in the sky. Morris let Mush go, spitting on the ground in front of his feet. “See you and your bulging waistline later.” He mocked, Oscar following his brother. 

 

Once he was sure they were gone, Mush made a run for it back to the Lodging house. He locked himself in the bathroom and stared in the mirror, the expression falling on his face. They were right. 

 

He needed to lose weight, a lot of it, and fast.   

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you all think!


End file.
